Helen N. Schwerdt is an assistant professor in the department of bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh. Her research is focused on building and applying new implantable tools to elucidate the multiple dynamic modes of neural signaling that are critical to our everyday behavior, both in health and in disease. A major goal of Dr. Schwerdt’s lab is delineating the molecular (for example., dopamine) and electrical neural signaling operations that regulate plasticity during learning and how these become impaired in conditions like Parkinson’s disease and major mood disorders. Dr. Schwerdt received a BS in biomedical engineering and MSE in electrical and computer engineering from Johns Hopkins University and a PhD in electrical engineering from Arizona State University. She worked in the labs of Dr. Junseok Chae for graduate studies and of Dr. Ann Graybiel and Dr. Michael Cima at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for postdoctoral work.